Integrated karaoke device

ABSTRACT

The present invention discloses an integrated karaoke device, including a microphone and a sound box. The sound box includes a sound chamber containing a loudspeaker. The integrated karaoke device further includes a connecting part made of flexible material that is fixedly connected between a bottom of the microphone and a top of the sound chamber. The use of a flexible material connecting part rather than a solid structural part reduces the transmission to the microphone of sound vibration generated by the sound box. The beneficial effect of implementing the present invention is that a flexible material connecting part is fixedly connected between the bottom of the microphone and the top of the sound chamber, and meanwhile, a gap is kept between the bottom of a printed circuit board (PCB) and the top of the sound chamber; and because the flexible material connecting part can effectively reduce sound vibration, the transmission of vibration to the microphone from the sound box can be effectively eliminated, thereby preventing squealing, and enabling integration of the microphone and the sound box for use in karaoke.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/709,730, filed on Dec. 10, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,030,986, issuedon Jun. 8, 2021, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 15/520,369, filed on Apr. 19, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,504,497,issued on Dec. 10, 2019, which is a national stage application under 35U.S.C. 371 and claims the benefit of PCT Application No.PCT/CN2014/092367 having an international filing date of Nov. 27, 2014,which designated the United States, each of which are incorporatedherein by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of audio playback, and inparticular, to an integrated karaoke device.

BACKGROUND ART

In spite of the wide and mature karaoke technology and applicationthereof, there are few portable simplified devices and even fewerindividualized karaoke products, such that karaoke can be used only inspecial places or fixed places, causing much inconvenience. Moreover,various existing microphones, including microphones having a karaokereverberation function, have mature technology and wide application, butthe microphone is usually a separate, stand-alone microphone product andmust be used with an external sound box or other devices. Because thesound box generates, along with the sound, vibration having the samefrequency as that of the sound, when the microphone is integrated withor close to the sound box, the sound input from the microphone isamplified by the sound box and then transmitted to the microphonethrough the housing. The microphone then again inputs and amplifies thesound of the same frequency, and a strong self-feedback effect, that is,self-excitation effect, is produced after repeated amplification manytimes. At this time, the sound box produces a persistent andcontinuously strengthened sound of the same frequency (referred toherein as a squeal), completely disrupting the normal use.

Existing designs change the frequency of the sound to make the frequencyor frequency phase of the input sound different from the outputfrequency or frequency phase, thereby avoiding squealing, or removespecific frequencies and so on through actual application orcalculation, so as to avoid squealing. However, all these methods causeserious distortion of sounds and cannot meet requirements for desirablesound quality.

Therefore, integration of a microphone and a sound box to achieveportability and a direct karaoke effect, and to enable people to enjoysinging and enjoy the fun of music at any time and any place, withunchanged or even improved sound quality, is an aspiration of manypeople.

Technical Problem

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is toprovide an integrated karaoke device in view of the defect in the priorart that a strong self-feedback effect is produced that completelydisrupts the normal use when a microphone and a sound box areintegrated.

Solution to the Problem Technical Solution

The technical solution adopted in the present invention to solve thetechnical problem thereof is: an integrated karaoke device isconstructed, including a microphone and a sound box, where the sound boxincludes a sound chamber containing a loudspeaker, and the integratedkaraoke device further includes a connecting part made of flexiblematerial that is fixedly connected between a bottom of the microphoneand a top of the sound chamber. The use of a flexible materialconnecting part, rather than a solid structural part, reduces thetransmission to the microphone of sound vibration generated by the soundbox.

In the aforementioned integrated karaoke device, a plastic part isfixedly connected to the bottom of the microphone and penetrates a topof the flexible material connecting part so as to secure the flexiblematerial connecting part to the microphone. A printed circuit board(PCB) is fixedly connected to the plastic part, and a gap is keptbetween the PCB and the top of the sound chamber.

In the aforementioned integrated karaoke device, a sidewall of theflexible material connecting part is provided with a first opening and asecond opening, the PCB is provided with a first port and a second port,and the first port and the second port are correspondingly fitted in thefirst opening and the second opening, respectively.

In the aforementioned integrated karaoke device, the sound box furtherincludes a silicone ring, a plastic ring, and a trumpet-shaped mesh thatare fixedly connected to a bottom of the loudspeaker in turn. The bottomof the loudspeaker is flush with the bottom of the sound chamber.

In the aforementioned integrated karaoke device, a distance between thePCB and the top of the sound chamber is greater than 4 mm.

In the aforementioned integrated karaoke device, a circuit board ismounted in the microphone and the circuit board is provided with aBluetooth module.

In the aforementioned integrated karaoke device, the flexible materialconnecting part is made of silicone.

In the aforementioned integrated karaoke device, the flexible materialconnecting part is made of any one of rubber, thermoplastic polyurethane(TPU), and soft plastic.

In the aforementioned integrated karaoke device, a bottom of theflexible material connecting part is connected to the top of the soundchamber by means of threads or screws.

In the aforementioned integrated karaoke device, a bottom of theflexible material connecting part is adhered to the top of the soundchamber.

Beneficial Effect of the Invention Beneficial Effect

The implementation of the integrated karaoke device of the presentinvention has the following beneficial effect: The top of a flexiblematerial connecting part is fixedly connected to the bottom of amicrophone by means of a plastic part, and the bottom of the flexiblematerial connecting part is fixed to the top of a sound chamber.Meanwhile, a gap is kept between the bottom of a PCB that is alsofixedly connected to the plastic part and the top of the sound chamber.When a person sings aloud, because the flexible connecting part caneffectively eliminate vibration from being transmitted to the microphonefrom the sound box, sound vibration generated by the sound box is nolonger transmitted to the microphone (as it would be if a solidstructural part were used instead of the flexible material connectingpart), so that the production of a feedback self-excitation mechanism isfundamentally eliminated, thereby effectively inhibiting squealing.Meanwhile, with this product, people can sing karaoke at any time andany place without the restriction of places or numerous devices. Thus, auser can sing a song loudly and share the joy with friends at any timeno matter whether he is indoors or outdoors, on a journey or on amountain top. Additionally, with mobile phones having become nowindispensable for people to carry, a wireless Bluetooth connection tothe mobile phone can be established by enabling a Bluetooth function ofthe integrated karaoke device, and a real karaoke effect is achievedwith the accompaniment of music played from the mobile phone.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic exploded view of a microphone-and-sound-boxintegrated device in the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic overall view of a microphone-and-sound-boxintegrated device in the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a circuit block diagram of a microphone-and-sound-boxintegrated device in the present invention.

EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION Implementation Manners of the PresentInvention

In order to understand the technical features, objectives, and effectsof the present invention more clearly, the specific implementationmanners of the present invention will be described in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic exploded view of an integrated karaoke device 10according to one embodiment of the present invention. The integratedkaraoke device 10 includes a microphone 20 and a sound box 30. The soundbox 30 includes a sound chamber 400 that contains a loudspeaker 500.Particularly, the integrated karaoke device 10 includes a connectingpart 100 made of a flexible material. The flexible material connectingpart 100 has the shape of a cylinder with a closed top and an openbottom, and as shown in FIG. 1, has a diameter gradually increasing fromtop to bottom. The connecting part 100 is fixedly connected between abottom of the microphone 20 and a top of the sound chamber 400, and isused to prevent transmission of sound vibration generated by the soundbox 30 to the microphone 20, which sound vibration would be transmittedthrough a solid structural connecting part. The integrated karaokedevice also includes a plastic part 200 and a PCB 300. The plastic part200 mainly has a fixing function. At least one protrusion is provided oneach of the top and the bottom of the plastic part 200. For example, oneprotrusion 201 is provided on the top of the plastic part 200 and twoprotrusions 202 and 203 are provided on the bottom of the plastic part200 as shown in FIG. 1. The top protrusion 201 penetrates the top (thatis, the end connected to the microphone 20) of the flexible materialconnecting part 100 and fixes the top of the flexible materialconnecting part 100 to the bottom of the microphone 20 by means ofthreads or screws. It should be understood that the top of the flexiblematerial connecting part 100 is provided with several holes forpenetration of the protrusion 201 on the plastic part 200 to the bottomof the microphone 20.

The PCB 300 is also fixedly connected by means of the plastic part 200,and a gap is kept between the PCB 300 and the top of the sound chamber400. Specifically, the PCB 300 is fixed to the bottom of the plasticpart 200 by the protrusions 202 and 203 on the bottom of the plasticpart 200 by means of threads or screws. Further, the PCB 300 is providedwith a first port 301 and a second port 302 in this embodiment, wherethe first port 301 is a charging/audio input/audio output port, and thesecond port 302 is an audio output port. It should be understood,however, that the number of the ports is not limited. Meanwhile, asidewall of the flexible material connecting part 100 comprises twoopenings (not marked in the figure), which are respectively a firstopening and a second opening, and the first port 301 and the second port302 are correspondingly fitted in the first opening and the secondopening respectively. In this way, the previous practice of fitting thetwo ports in openings on the bottom of the microphone is avoided,thereby achieving a more beautiful appearance. [0023] The flexiblematerial connecting part 100 may be preferably made of silicone, becausesilicone has low hardness and can effectively reduce vibration. Itshould be understood that other flexible materials, such as rubber orthermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) may also be selected and used. Softplastic may also be selected and used, with a shore hardness of about 80or less, but all that is necessary is that the hardness of the materialis low enough to effectively reduce vibration.

The bottom of the flexible material connecting part 100 may bepreferably connected to the top of the sound chamber 400 by means ofthreads or screws, or may be directly adhered to the top of the soundchamber 200 by encapsulation or by glue. The connection manner is notlimited herein, as long as the flexible material connecting part 100 canbe fixedly connected to the top of the sound chamber 400. Certainly, theconnection of the flexible material connecting part 100 to the top ofthe sound chamber 400 herein refers to connection of edges. A gap needsto be kept between the bottom of the PCB 300 and the top of the soundchamber 400, and the distance between them is preferably more than 4 mmto 5 mm, so as to avoid an undesirable vibration reduction effect due toa smaller distance.

The aforementioned sound box 30 further includes a silicone ring 600, aplastic ring 700, and a trumpet-shaped mesh 800, where the silicone ring600, the plastic ring 700, and the trumpet-shaped mesh 800 are fixedlyconnected to a bottom of the loudspeaker 500 in turn, and the bottom ofthe loudspeaker 500 is flush with the bottom of the sound chamber 400. Aschematic overall view of the integrated karaoke device 10 is shown inFIG. 2. The plastic ring 700 and the silicone ring 600 may be attachedto the bottom of the loudspeaker 500 by means of threads or screws, soas to seal the sound chamber 400. The trumpet-shaped mesh 800 can blockexternal dust from entering the sound box 30, while also allowing soundproduced by the loudspeaker 500 to penetrate therethrough. The siliconering 600 is made from silicone having a low hardness, and may also bemade from other flexible materials such as rubber, TPU, or soft plastic.The use of flexible material for the silicone ring 600 is useful so thatwhen this part makes contact with a solid structural part, such as adesktop or floor, sound vibration generated by the sound chamber canalso be reduced.

Therefore, by fixedly connecting a flexible material connecting part 100between the bottom of the microphone 20 and the top of the sound chamber400, and meanwhile, keeping a gap between the bottom of the PCB 300 andthe top of the sound chamber 400, because the flexible materialconnecting part 100 can effectively reduce sound vibration, and the PCB300 and the sound chamber 400 are not in contact, but instead have a gapkept therebetween, sound vibration generated by the sound box 30 cannotbe transmitted to the upper part of the integrated karaoke device 10,and when a person sings aloud, because a gap is kept between the bottomof the PCB 300 and the top of the sound chamber 400, and because the topof the sound chamber 400 is fixedly connected to the bottom of themicrophone 20 by means of the flexible material connecting part,vibration that is transmitted to the microphone 20 from the sound box 30can be effectively eliminated, and thus sound vibration generated by thesound box 30 is not conducted to the microphone 20 through a solidstructural part, thereby effectively inhibiting squealing.

Preferably, a circuit board inside the microphone 20 is further providedwith a Bluetooth module used for performing a wireless Bluetoothcommunication connection to a Bluetooth communication device such as amobile phone. A block diagram illustrating the principle of an internalcircuit 40 of the integrated device is shown in FIG. 3. When a sound isinput from a pickup of the microphone 20, the sound or microphone signalenters a condenser microphone 310. The signal first is subjected to amicrophone sound reverberation process 318 in microphone amplificationunit 314, after which the microphone signal is output to three units:one output to an earphone power amplification unit 322, one output to aspeaker power amplification unit 326, and one output to an outputrecording signal processing unit 330. Afterwards, when a speaker isplaced in an ON state by a speaker on/off control 334, the microphonesignal is subjected to speaker power amplification at speaker poweramplification unit 326 and then output to the speaker 338. When aBluetooth function of the integrated karaoke device is used, after theintegrated karaoke device 10 enables the Bluetooth module (whichincludes a Bluetooth antenna 342 and a Bluetooth component 346 in FIG.3), and establishes a wireless Bluetooth communication connection to amobile communication device such as a mobile phone (not shown), thesound transmitted by the mobile phone to the Bluetooth antenna 342passes through the Bluetooth component 346 in the Bluetooth module andenters left and right channels 350 and 354, respectively, for mixing atleft and right channel mixing unit 358, and later is subjected tospeaker power amplification at speaker power amplification unit 326 andis then output to the speaker 338, together with the human sound(received through the condenser microphone 310), while the speaker is inthe ON state as set at the speaker on/off control 334. When an externaldevice, such as a mobile phone is not connected by Bluetooth, externalmusic may also be input from a MICRO USB port 362 in a wired manner andsubjected to speaker power amplification at speaker power amplificationunit 326 before being output to the speaker 338, together with the humansound (received through the condenser microphone 310).

Besides, with the above-described first port (charging/audio input/audiooutput port, that is, the MICRO USB port 362 shown in FIG. 3) fitted inthe first opening on the sidewall of the flexible material connectingpart 100, power can be supplied to batteries 366 of the microphone 20via the battery charging circuit 370 and various modules requiring powersupply such as the Bluetooth module, and meanwhile, an external devicesuch as a mobile phone can be connected for playing music. A powerswitch 374 is used to control the flow of power from the batteries 366to other portions of the circuit 40.

In view of the above, by implementing the integrated karaoke device ofthe present invention, the top of the flexible material connecting part100 is fixedly connected to the bottom of the microphone 20 by means ofthe plastic part 200 and the bottom of the flexible material connectingpart 100 is fixed to the top of the sound chamber 400, and meanwhile, agap is kept between the bottom of the PCB 300 that is also fixedlyconnected by means of the plastic part 200 and the top of the soundchamber 400. When a person sings aloud, because the flexible connectingpart 100 can effectively eliminate vibration that is transmitted to themicrophone 20 from the sound box 30, sound vibration generated by thesound box 30 can no longer be conducted to the microphone 20 through asolid structural part, and finally cannot be normally transmitted to themicrophone 20, so that the production of a feedback self-excitationmechanism is fundamentally eliminated, thereby effectively inhibitingsquealing.

Meanwhile, with this product, people can sing karaoke at any time andany place without the restriction of places or numerous devices, so thata user can sing a song loudly and share the joy with friends at any timeno matter whether he is indoors or outdoors, on a journey or on amountain top. Additionally, with mobile phones having become nowindispensable for people to carry, a wireless Bluetooth connection tothe mobile phone can be established by enabling a Bluetooth function ofthe integrated karaoke device, and a real karaoke effect is achievedwith the accompaniment of music played from the mobile phone.

The embodiments of the present invention are described above withreference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is notlimited to the specific implementation described above. The specificimplementation described above is merely illustrative rather thanrestrictive. Those of ordinary skill in the art can make many formswithout departing from the intention of the present invention or fromthe protective scope of the claims under the teachings of the presentinvention, and all these forms fall within the scope of the presentinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An integrated karaoke device, comprising: amicrophone comprising a bottom portion; a sound box comprising a soundchamber having a top portion and a loudspeaker; a flexible materialfixedly connecting at least a portion of the bottom portion of themicrophone to at least a portion of the top portion of the soundchamber, wherein the flexible material is connected to the portion ofthe bottom portion of the microphone by a first portion of a plasticpart and the flexible material attenuates vibrations traveling from thesound box to the microphone, and wherein a sidewall of the flexiblematerial comprises a first opening and a second opening; and a printedcircuit board having a first port and a second port that are configuredto fit into the first opening and the second opening of the sidewallrespectively, the printed circuit board fixedly connected to a secondportion of the plastic part such that the printed circuit board and thetop of the sound chamber are not in contact.
 2. The integrated karaokedevice of claim 1, wherein the sound box further comprises: asubstantially trumpet-shaped mesh fixedly connected to a bottom of theloudspeaker; a plastic ring fixedly connected to the bottom of theloudspeaker between the trumpet-shaped mesh and the loudspeaker; and asilicone ring fixedly connected to the bottom of the loudspeaker betweenthe plastic ring and the loudspeaker, wherein the bottom of theloudspeaker is flush with a bottom of the sound chamber.
 3. Theintegrated karaoke device of claim 1, wherein there is at least a 4 mmgap between the printed circuit board and the top of the sound chamber.4. The integrated karaoke device of claim 1, wherein a circuit boardcomprising a Bluetooth module is mounted in the microphone.
 5. Theintegrated karaoke device of claim 1, wherein the flexible material ismade of silicone.
 6. The integrated karaoke device of claim 1, whereinthe flexible material is made of any one of rubber, thermoplasticpolyurethane, and soft plastic.
 7. The integrated karaoke device ofclaim 1, wherein a bottom of the flexible material connecting part isconnected to the top of the sound chamber with a threaded fastener. 8.The integrated karaoke device of claim 1, wherein a bottom of theflexible material is adhered to the top of the sound chamber.
 9. Asystem comprising: a microphone; a sound box comprising: a sound chamberhaving a bottom portion and a loudspeaker with a bottom; a substantiallytrumpet-shaped mesh fixedly connected to the bottom of the loudspeaker;a plastic ring fixedly connected to the bottom of the loudspeakerbetween the trumpet-shaped mesh and the loudspeaker; and a silicone ringfixedly connected to the bottom of the loudspeaker between the plasticring and the loudspeaker, wherein the bottom of the loudspeaker is flushwith the bottom portion of the sound chamber; a circuit board comprisingone or more components for receiving audio signals from an externaldevice; and a connecting part made of flexible material, the connectingpart extending from a portion of a bottom of the microphone to a portionof a top of the sound box.
 10. The system of claim 11, wherein the oneor more components for receiving audio signals from an external devicecomprises a Bluetooth module.
 11. The system of claim 11, wherein theone or more components for receiving audio signals from an externaldevice comprises a USB port.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein thecircuit board further comprises one or more audio outputs capable ofcommunicating information to the loudspeaker and at least one earphoneoutlet.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein the circuit board furthercomprises a battery and a port for supplying power to charge thebattery.
 14. The system of claim 11, wherein the circuit board isisolated from the sound box.
 15. A device comprising: a microphonehaving a bottom portion; a sound box comprising: a sound chamber havinga top portion and a loudspeaker; a substantially trumpet-shaped meshfixedly connected to a bottom of the loudspeaker; a plastic ring fixedlyconnected to the bottom of the loudspeaker between the trumpet-shapedmesh and the loudspeaker; and a silicone ring fixedly connected to thebottom of the loudspeaker between the plastic ring and the loudspeaker,wherein the bottom of the loudspeaker is flush with a bottom of thesound chamber; a connecting part made of flexible material and providinga connection between the bottom portion of the microphone and the topportion of the sound chamber, the flexible material comprising one ofsilicone, rubber, thermoplastic polyurethane, and soft plastic, whereinthe connecting part is connected to the bottom portion of the microphoneby a first portion of a plastic part; and a printed circuit boardfixedly connected to a second portion of the plastic part such that theprinted circuit board and the top portion of the sound chamber are notin contact.
 16. The device of claim 17, wherein the connecting part hasa first diameter adjacent the microphone that is smaller than a seconddiameter adjacent the sound box.
 17. The device of claim 17, furthercomprising an interface for receiving audio signals from an externaldevice.
 18. The integrated karaoke device of claim 1, wherein theflexible material has a first diameter adjacent the microphone that issmaller than a second diameter adjacent the sound chamber.
 19. Thedevice of claim 17, wherein the printed circuit board is isolated fromthe sound box.
 20. The device of claim 17, wherein a sidewall of theconnecting part comprises a first opening and a second opening, theprinted circuit board comprises a first port and a second port, and thefirst port and the second port are configured so as to fit into thefirst opening and the second opening of the sidewall, respectively.